Category Archives: Uncategorized

Maker Faire Atlanta is excited to announce that this year the Power Racing Series will be making its debut appearance in Atlanta. The Power Racing Series brings the thrills and excitement of adults racing modified children’s toys around a track of unknown length to the cheers of thousands of spectators, fans and curious passers-by. We will provide the race course, the timing system, the Moxie board (check the rules) and FABULOUS AWARDS (the fabulousness of the awards is to be determined), but we need YOUto provide the fastest, craziest, most insanely modified electric vehicles possible, while keeping under a $500 budget and obeying all of our safety rules (written for your protection and amusement).

Photo by: Power Racing Series

Do you think you have what it takes to rip apart a Barbie Camaro and turn it into a competitive electric racing machine? Would you rather spend your $500 budget on a great costume and gently drive around the track being a nuisance to those other makers who have taken this thing way too seriously? Then we hope you will put together a car and come be part of the most exciting semi-legit $500 electric racing event featuring adults on kids toys in the world!

Photo by: Anne Petersen

MakerFaire Atlanta 2014 will take place on October 4th-5th in Downtown Decatur. Prepare your vehicles now, or wait until the last minute to throw something together. Either way, we hope to see you there. For more information and entertainment check out http://www.powerracingseries.org/.

You may have deduced from the fact that because we had over 10,000 attendees last year or the fact that we’re now a two day event or the fact that we’ve moved to Downtown Decatur that the Atlanta Mini Maker Faire is now Maker Faire Atlanta, but if not, LISTEN UP!

Atlanta is joining the ranks of Rome, Detroit, Shenzhen, Kansas City, Paris, Oslo, and a few others as one of the world’s ten “Featured Faires.” To distinguish them from “Flagship Faires,” which happen in the Bay Area and New York, Featured Faires are large scale (10,000+ attendees and 200+ makers) Faires that are organized by the location that hosts them. Most Featured Faires are organized by museums and science centers, but Atlanta has the distinction of being the first Faire that has grown from a “Mini” to a Featured Faire through purely volunteer work. We are homegrown, we are community-grounded, we are the only Featured Faire in the Southeast US, and one of only three in the WORLD that is free to attend!

And as you’ve already read, there are some other changes: the Faire will be the weekend of October 4 (10am-5pm) and October 5 (12pm-5pm). It will have over 200 makers (up from 130 last year). And it will take place in the downtown area of Decatur, which is a short walk from plentiful parking, easy MARTA access, and more local food than you know what to do with. (Can you tell we listened to your feedback?)

So what’s next? Well, right now the Faire is being tag-teamed by a handful of people, and we need some help! If you’re interested in giving us a hand, head over to the volunteer page and let us know how. Also, moving the Faire off of Georgia Tech’s campus means it costs substantially more money to produce it, and if we’re going to keep it free, then we’re going to need plenty of sponsors. If you or your company would like to help make this Faire a reality and gain a ridiculous amount of positive visibility in the process, check out our sponsorship page.

A few other things to point out: our Call for Makers will open on May 19th, and the sooner you sign up, the better a position you’ll get (there are some areas that have a bit of an incline, and latecomers will get those spots). We’ll send another email out on that day, but be sure to go ahead and mark your calendars. Also, we are officially on the calendar for a Power Racing Series event. So if you feel like turning an old Power Wheels into an electric speed demon and racing it around a track, then you’re in the right place! More details about that later too.